Phillies Not Done Dealing

This morning on XM’s MLB Home Plate, Phillies GM Pat Gillick admitted that he is still heavily involved in discussions to further improve his team. In other words, the Joe Blanton acquisition was the beginning, rather than the end, of his dealing.

Somewhat surprising, since the Phils don’t have much to offer from their farm system, but Gillick let the cat out of the bag, mentioning that Philadelphia has two of the brightest backstop prospects in all of baseball — Lou Marson and Jason Jaramillo. The guy he didn’t mention was a third catcher named Travis D’Arnaud, a 2007 first-rounder who is currently buried in Rookie ball and hitting .330. And while the Phillies may not have any exciting blue chippers to offer, how many other teams have young, talented catchers to deal?

Gillick specifically identified pitching and an outfielder as targets. Could he possibly pull off a deal to pry away Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes from Colorado? Jason Bay and Damaso Marte from Pittsburgh? If a main chip is a catcher, I’d think the Orioles are out of the running — they’re looking to move Ramon Hernandez to make room for phenom Matt Wieters.

Meantime, Omar Minaya as usual kept his cards close to his vest in an interview yesterday on 1050 ESPN Radio, giving the old “we’re always looking to improve our team” line, but also saying that he had complete confidence in Fernando Tatis keeping up his hot hitting.

As mentioned earlier this week, I think the outcome of this series could affect what the Mets do before the trading deadline. If the Mets win one or two, they’ll continue to go after someone like Casey Blake or a Billy Hall type. But if they get swept, a panic move could be made that brings in a Jason Bay, Huston Street, or Matt Holliday – level player. Such a high-impact trade would become more realistic if the Phillies sweep AND make another major deal.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.

First, I think they should trade a non-prospect for Nelson Cruz and have him in their back pocket. Second, sign Freddy Garcia — they’ll need him as much for depth in ’09 as for ’08. Then, get on the phone with the Baltimore Orioles and don’t end a conversation until a deal is made. Ideally, try to get Chad Bradford, who should come for a couple of low-level, fringe prospects, and one or more of the following: Jay Payton, Kevin Millar, Aubrey Huff, Ramon Hernandez, Melvin Mora. It shouldn’t be too expensive to get any of those players, and any of them could help in the outfield or 1B. Also look into if the Indians will take a fringe prospect for Casey Blake.